Dump-car-door locking and releasing attachment



} H. s. HART DUMP CAR DOOR LdCKING AND RELEASING ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. '5, 1922 Patented Nov. 6, 1923.

UNQH'E'E STATES HARRY S. HART, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Application filed January 3, 1922. Serial.No., 526,588.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY S. HART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dump-Car-Door Locking and Releasing Attachment-s,- of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to dumpcar door locking mechanisms, and particularly to that type of such mechanism in which one or more latches are employed for holding the cargo-discharging door closed against the internal load imposed upon it until such time as may be desired to discharge the contents.

Heretofore it has been proposed to employ latches for the purpose stated, but such latches have been so arranged as to involve separate local manipulation in engaging them with the door, introducing the dogging device or chock behind each latch to prevent its displacement under the vibration of travel, and to withdraw it for releasing the door at the place of intended discharge. Moreover, manipulation of these previously known arrangements has necessitated the presence of the operator in a position of danger. .Moreover, releasing manipulation of such previously known devices, owing to presence of separately displaceable chocks, the disposition of the centers of movement of the latches, the necessity of acting directly upon them, and the absence of power developing means, has

beentime consuming and diflicult of accomplishment, and requiredithe presence of the operator; in a position of danger from the discharging cargo.

One object of the present invention is to provide alocking means for the latch or latches of adump car door, which will automatically enter into and retire from looking position by the latching and un-- latching of the. door; and which, prefer-' action; and the pivot. of. the latchbeing located to developasubstantially vertical component in latching and unlatching movements, which facilitates withdrawal, 60 and, under thepower. of the actuator,,forces the door to its seat after initial engagement by the latch.

Still another object is to adapt. the latch locking and forcing means. to serve a pair of latches simultaneously; also to insurefull movement in each latch.

Still another object is to adapt a latch actuator, which functions as abovesetforth, to be manipulated, particularly inthe, door releasing direction, from a vantage point out of the path of cargo I discharge; alsoi'. to effect such remote manipulation-through the instrumentalit-y of a lever arm that greatly reduces the effort required.

Still another object is to provide a'detent which will hold the latch and its .locking l means in withdrawn position until the door approaches closed position, and will thereupon be released, by the door, to automatic 3 latching and locking movements; the preferred method of realizing thisfobject -involving merely the original withdrawal movement of the latch or latches which automatically admitsthe detent into the path of its latch, thereto remain and holdthe latch and its combined locking member andactuator in retracted: position until. displaced by the-door to release said parts to automatic lockinga'otion. The preferred embodiment of: the invention is shown in thef accompanyingvdrawings and set forth in detail inthe-followi'ng description, butyit istogbe taken asillus trative of the'invention: rather-thanv definitive of its scope, and theinventionisftobe understood as includihgany device coming within any. of the foregoing statements of operative principle, and'withinthe terms of any. of the subjoined claims.

In said drawings, Figures 1 and Q'are, respectively, a side elevation and a vertical transversesection through a portion of a freight cartowhich an embodiment of'the invention is applied.

Figure 8 is aside elevation of the'latching, locking and actuating mechanismonanenlarged scale the unlocked and unlatched ing and latching mechanism, with the appurtenant parts of the car structure in section.

5, represents a portion of a car body, 6 the dumping doorway thereof, and 7 the door for closing said doorway. Door 7 is commonly hinged at 8 and retained in closed position against the load of its superposed cargo by a locking mechanism engaging some portions of the door, such, for instance, as protrudingends of its cleats 9.

To hold the door closed, the present invention proposes to use a latch or latches 1O pivoted at 11, preferably to the outer side wall of the car, in position to engage heneath the cleat or cleats 9 when the door is closed. Pivot 11, will preferably be in a vertical line lying to one side of the door part which the latch engages, so that retracting movement will involve, at least initially, a downward component that reduces the eifort required to withdraw the latch, and an upward component in the latching movement'which causes the latch to seat the door.

To lock the latch, toggle arms 12, 12 are employed, pivoted together at 13 and pivotally connecting a point 14 on a latch with a suitable opposing support, which, in cases where two latches are used will be the corresponding point 14 on the other latch so that the two latches become reciprocal in their action and mutually self sustaining through themedium of the toggle connection. Toggle arms 12 act in a vertical plane so that their gravitation assists in seating the latches. They have a limiting lug 15 that arrests their downward movement and reduces their joint 13 to the nature of a knuckle-joint, but this lug is positioned to permit the joint to descend to or slightly below parallelism of the links, so that a definite upward thrust perpendicular to any unlatching impulse of the latches must be exerted to unlock the door; and when approaching or leaving their locked position the action upon the latches is so nearly parallel to the engaging faces of the latches and door as to greatly reduce the force required for the action. Each latch 10 has a stop 16 that encounters a fixed'part of the structure at the end of withdrawing move- 'ment, so that the latch first reaching its limit ofmovement serves as a' fixed anchorage from which the toggle may react'upon the other latch. In latching movement, attainment of its seat against the door enables it to serve the toggle similarly to insure full throw in the other latch.

To adapt the toggle actuator for manipu 'lation' from a vantage point of safety, one

or both of its links are constructed with .1purchaselugs '17 adaptingiit to receive a leverage arm 18 extending in direction and distance that adapt it for the service stated. To detain the latches, as well as their locking means and actuator, in unlocked and unlatched position, a dog 19 for each latch is pivoted at 20 in position to drop into the path of the toe 21 of the latch, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3, a stop 22 on the dog engaging a fixed part of the structure to limit its downward movement, and in order that the latch and actuator may be released to automatic latching and locking action by the mere act of throwing the door to closing position, said dog is in the path of the door when in detaining position. l/Vhen released, the toggle links develop a very prompt and positive latching move ment without the use of springs or other readily impaired instrumentality, and the whole arrangement is of simple construction and operation and peculiarly adapted for embodiment in substantial and durable form.

I claim:

1. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latching member, and a locking means entering into and retiring from looking position by the latching and unla-tching of the door, said latching member having a support located to prevent transmission of the load of the door to said locking means. i

2. In a dump car door locking mechanism,

a latching member having a support which which take up the entire load imparted from the door to the latches, and a locking means serving in common for both latches and moving into and out of lockingposition by the latching and unlatching of the door, said locking means being free from the load of the door. V I

4. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch, a support for said latch located in the line of bearing of the door upon the latch, and a toggle controlling said latch i a direction transverse to said line.

5. In a dump car door locking mechanism,

a pair of latches, and a toggle connecting said latches and moving into and out of locking position by the latching and un-. latching movements thereof.

- 6. In a dump. car door locking mechanism, a latch, and a toggle controlling said latch assuming thrust-resisting position when the latch 18 in'engagement with the door, said latch having a support substantially in vertical alignment with the bearing of the door against the latch.

7. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch having a face through which it engages the door and moving approximately in the plane or said face as it assumes latching relation to the door, and a toggle controlling said latch approximating its straight line position when substantially parallel to said plane.

8. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch, toggle links connected with said latch and adapted to control the movements thereof, and means carried by a link for engagement oi a lever arm through which to actuate the toggle links.

9. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a pair of latches, toggle links connecting said latches and adapted to control the movements thereof, and a stop on each latch arresting it at the end of its unlatching movement and thereby adapting it to serve as an anchorage for the toggle links in completing the movement of the other latch.

10. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a pivoted latch moving to engage and release the door in a direction substantially transverse to the movement of the door, and having its pivot located to develop in its said movement a component substantially coincident with'the closing movement of the door, and a toggle controlling said movements of said latch.

11. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch moving into and out of engagement with the door, and a dog automatically moving into the path of the latch and detaining it in unlatched position.

7 12. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch moving into and out of engagement with the door, and a dog automatically moving into the path of the latch and detaining it in unlatched postition; said dog in its detaining position lying in the path of the door and being automatically displaced by the closing of the door.

13. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch, a locking means for said latch moving into and out of locking position by the latching and unlatching of the door, and a dog moving automatically into the path of the latch at the unlatching of the door, thereby detaining the latch and locking means.

14. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch, a locking means for said latch moving into and out of locking position by the latching and unlatching of the door, and a dog moving automatically into the path of the latch at the unlatching of the door, thereby detaining the latch and locking means; said dog in its detaining position being in the path of the door and being dis-. placed by the closing of the door.

15. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch having a swinging movement into and out of latching position and having a hook by which it engages the door, and a pivoted dog movable into the path of the hook on the latch at the time of unlatching.

16. In a dump car door locking mechanism, a latch having a swinging movement into and out of latching position and having a hook by which it engages the door, and a pivoted dog movable into the path of the hook on the latch at the time of unlatching; said dog having a stop for arresting its movement when it reaches detaining position.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 29th day of December, 1921.

V HARRY S. HART. 

